Activists Block TransCanada Site in Hopkins County

SALTILLO - Opponents of TransCanada’s Gulf Coast leg which will run through Northeast Texas are declaring victory after a Wednesday protest near Saltillo.

Members of Tar Sands Blockade chained themselves to bulldozers, temporarily halting route-clearance work. The organization’s website says this is their third action and that “we’re only going to continue standing up for our friends and neighbors.”

There were no arrests. Ricky Morgan with the Hopkins County Sheriff’s Office tells KETR, “The owner of the construction equipment said they didn’t want us to take action. So we didn’t.”

He added if there’s a complaint they’ll respond accordingly.

Wednesday’s protest is said to have started at around 7 a.m. Tar Sands Blockade reports sheriff’s deputies arrived on scene around 9:30 a.m. and left around 11 a.m. At 1 p.m., the organization declared victory, with a picture reading “Another Delay! Another Victory!

The southern leg of TransCanada’s pipeline received the go-ahead earlier this summer after acquiring the necessary permits through the Army Corps of Engineers.

Meanwhile, TransCanada Wednesday submitted a new route for the northern section of its pipeline. The initial application for an international permit to cross the U.S.-Canadian border was rejected by President Obama. The L.A. Times reports this new route “would skirt the delicate Nebraska Sandhills, the permeable sands that lie atop one of the nation’s most important agricultural aquifers.”